Dan Christensen reports:
For the second time in three years, a data breach at Broward Health has caused the release of personal patient information in what one district executive called “a ring of thugs.”
Broward Health disclosed the breach on its website last month, saying it was advised by “law enforcement authorities” on May 12 that “patient information was discovered at an individual’s home during a routine investigation.”
Broward Health’s internal investigation later determined the sensitive patient information “was taken from Broward Health Imperial Point” in Fort Lauderdale by “an unidentified individual.”
The stolen information were hospital Facesheets that contain a patient’s full name, date of birth, address, phone numbers, Social Security number, primary insurance provider, insurance guarantor, reason for visit, emergency contact/next of kin information.
“The data removal is believed to have occurred between November 2011 and March 2012.”
Read more on Florida Bulldog. According to the report, insiders were involved, and the stolen data were used for tax refund fraud.
Broward Health’s notification, which seems to have flown under the media radar until now, can be found here.